Spy | Sun Diego High School Showdown

CARLSBAD, Calif. —San Diego-based eyewear brand SPY® is partnering with Sun Diego Boardshops for a fun and unique surfing event uniting eight San Diego high school surf teams and their communities to experience an individualistic sport in the same way their classmates do with team sports like baseball, football or basketball. The Sun Diego High School Showdown Presented by SPY will feature The Game™ format—a one-of-a-kind competition where surfers work together for the win, rather than only attaining scores for their individual performance.

"We love to be involved with surfing events like this in our own backyard," says Devon Howard, SPY Marketing Director and '92 grad of University City High School, which has a team competing in the event. "We're really excited about helping offer up The Game™ format for the kids because, like our brand, it's an unusual approach to the normal way of doing things. Also, with onsite presence from The California Surf Museum, the Showdown event educates students about their community's immense surf history and culture—which spans back over nine decades."

The Game™ changes the landscape of competitive surfing's individual approach by providing a fun and entertaining atmosphere for spectators and athletes alike. The only surfing competition that incorporates timeouts, coaches, referees, and an easy to follow scoreboard, The Game™ allows each high school to be represented by a maximum of 12 athletes. Teams are comprised of four starters, two substitutes and six non-active reserves. Like a three-inning baseball game, "heats" have a top and bottom of each period lasting 12 minutes, with a total running time of 90 minutes. Each ride will be scored individually; with top wave scores added together to form the final team tally and determine the winners. Further legitimizing the event, the judging panel is comprised of former and current professional surfers. Along with honoring the winning teams, awards for Most Valuable Player and Most Radical Maneuver will go to standout performers at the end of each game.

SPY is donating $2,000 on behalf of the winning high school surf team to the event's cause—the California Surf Museum, a 501(c)(3) non-profit resource center that showcases historical surf culture memorabilia and surfboards. At the end of the day-long event, Sun Diego will be handing over two $1,000 checks to The Game's winners, rewarding one school per division.

"The California Surf Museum is proud to participate in the event with SPY and Sun Diego," says museum director Julie Cox. "The museum exists to capture and chronicle surfing’s art, culture and heritage for the education and enjoyment of future generations. The Showdown is well aligned with our mission and is a great opportunity to engage the youth in San Diego’s rich surfing history—something they're now a part of."

The competition kicks-off at 7:00 a.m. on June 2 with Division 1 hitting the water immediately and Division 2 at 8:45 a.m. Finals will commence at 2:45 p.m. with an awards ceremony starting around 6:15 p.m. Prior to the final round, SPY surf athletes like Nate Tyler, Parker Coffin, Alex Gray, Joel Tudor and Ryan Burch will hit the water for an exciting and progressive expression session. Participants will be treated to food and drinks from a local eatery as the day unfolds.

About SPY Inc.: Founded in Carlsbad, CA in 1994, SPY is a unique collaboration of extraordinary athletes, designers, and creative people connected by a common obsession with action sports, music, technology, style, the world around us, and the facilitation of world-class performance and unbridled fun. We make incredible products that go on people's faces, allowing them to see clearer, look cooler, perform better and be more comfortable while doing the things that make them feel most alive. Simply stated, SPY makes function-forward facewear for fast fashion freaks who give a funk about what they wear. Premium sunglasses, Rx glasses, snow and moto goggles… Candy colors, new stuff, old stuff—It's all going to get your head spinning, your mouth watering, and your eyes seeing the world with a whole new reality. Just roll with it, it’s much easier that way.

About Sun Diego Boardshops: Sun Diego Boardshops has 10 San Diego County locations, specializing in Southern California active lifestyle and youth culture. We provide the best selection of skate, surf and beach apparel, accessories and equipment for 30 years running. We constantly strive to give our customers a rewarding in-store and on-line experience, and their approval is our highest priority. Sun Diego Boardshops has received numerous awards and accolades over the years including the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association’s (SIMA) Women's Retailer of the Year in 2008 and Retailer of the Year in 2005. We have also been voted Best Surf Shop for 9 years running by the San Diego Union Tribune Readers Poll. We're not your standard shopping experience.

About The California Surf Museum: The California Surf Museum serves as an international repository and resource center for the lifestyle sport of surfing through capturing, preserving and chronicling its art, culture and heritage for the education and enjoyment of future generations. The California Surf Museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit located at 312 Pier View Way, Oceanside, CA 92054; phone (760) 721-6876 or email csm@surfmuseum.org. Please visit the website at surfmuseum.org. Open daily 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. with extended hours Thursdays to 8 p.m.